Octopus Project
The Octopus Project is a Council of Europe project based on voluntary contributions from States Parties and Observers to the Convention on Cybercrime and other public and private sector organisations, aiming to support the implementation of the Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention), its Protocols and related standards, as well as to address additional challenges that came to the forefront in the course of 2020.
Results are expected in the following areas:
- Assistance of the criminal justice authorities from the countries willing to implement the Budapest Convention, its First Protocol on Xenophobia and Racism, its Second Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime on enhanced co-operation and disclosure of electronic evidence, as well as related standards;
- Support to the Cybercrime Convention Committee (T-CY);
- Organisation of the Octopus conferences on cooperation against cybercrime;
- Development of online tools for the delivery of capacity building activities on cybercrime and electronic evidence.
Duration of the project: 1 January 2021 – 31 December 2027
The Council of Europe gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the following donors to the Octopus Project:
Canada – France – Hungary – Iceland – Italy – Japan – Malta – Monaco – The Netherlands – The United Kingdom and the United States of America.
The Octopus Project is open to voluntary contributions. Consult the Octopus Project leaflet (version March 2026) and the flexible partnership opportunities leaflet (version May 2026)
Documents
Project summary, June 2023
Project leaflet, March 2026 new
Full report: The Budapest Convention on Cybercrime: benefits and impact in practice, July 2020
Anniversary webpage: 20 years of the Convention on Cybercrime, Oct 2021
Factsheets: Convention on Cybercrime | First Additional Protocol | Second Additional Protocol, Nov 2021
Article: A new Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime: For a more effective criminal justice response to crime online – with strong safeguards, Nov 2021
Study: COVID-19 related cybercrime in Asia: Regional Study, June 2022
Leaflet: Cyberviolence Resource, Dec 2023
Study: Implementing the First Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime on Xenophobia and Racism: Good practice study, Dec 2023
Article: C-PROC at 10: Ten years of capacity building by the Cybercrime Programme Office of the Council of Europe, Dec 2023 (also .pdf)
Leaflet: Joining the Convention on Cybercrime: Benefits: EN / FR / ESP, July 2025
Video resources
Audio resources
Podcast (episode 1): Cathie talks about cybercrime with Alexander Seger | EN, October 2021
Podcast (episode 2): More cybercrime, with Alexander Seger| EN, May 2022
Podcast (episode 3): Cybercrime roundtable | EN, May 2022
Listen to more podcasts explaining our work against cybercrime.
CyberSEE, CyberSouth+, CyberSPEX, GLACY-e and Octopus Projects: The Cyber Games and Digital Security Challenge 2026 - The second edition takes the global fight against cybercrime to Africa
Organised in Marrakech from 19 to 21 May 2026 within the framework of the CyberSEE, CyberSouth+, CyberSPEX, GLACY-e and Octopus projects and in close partnership with INTERPOL and Morocco’s General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) and General Directorate for Information Systems Security...
Octopus Conference 2026: Registration is now open!
Registration is now open for Octopus Conference 2026, which will take place between 14-16 October, in Strasbourg, France! Register to attend in person the Octopus Conference 2026 The 2026 edition will be of particular significance as it marks the 25th anniversary of the Convention on Cybercrime...
CyberEast+ and CyberSouth+: Guidelines facilitating mutual legal assistance in cybercrime and electronic evidence were reinforced
Addressing well-known problems of efficiency and expedience of international co-operation on cybercrime and electronic evidence, Mutual Legal Assistance Guidelines were agreed by Eastern Partnership states back in 2021, under the joint CyberEast regional initiative of the European Union and the...
Octopus Project video (2021)
In Focus
CYBERKOP Action of the Octopus Project
Upcoming events:
- 14-16 October 2026, in Strasbourg, France
- Save the date (.pdf)


